Starting Over
by mtampiquena
Summary: After being dragged to the bottom of the ocean with Lapis, Jasper has a bit of a breakdown...is she really the bad jerk Gem we know her as? [ONE-SHOT!]


It was another average day in Beach City, well as average as a day in Beach City could be anyways. The sun was just above the horizon, the ocean was calm with gentle waves hitting the sand and rocks around the small delta. But it was underneath the waves where things were about to get anything but calm.

Below the waves, a little far from the coast and deep enough to not be seen even by a deep sea diver, were two Gems, Lapis Lazuli and Jasper sitting on a sea bed. Jasper was turned away from Lapis while the smaller Gem was only a few feet from her. On a normal day, neither would be able to stand being so close to each other if it weren't for the water chains that binded their wrists to each other. The chains were intertwined with each other in such a way that you could never find the end, so breaking them apart was out of the question. Although it didn't stop Jasper from trying.

Ever since being dragged to the bottom of the ocean with Lapis a few weeks ago, the warrior Gem had tried everything to escape. She yanked on the chains, she screamed and threatened the smaller Gem to let her go, she threw rocks on the chains and at Lapis, and even went as far as using a passing shark or barracuda as scissors to free herself. But it was all in vain, the chains would either disperse back into water at her touch or move down to another part of her body such as her ankles or constrict around her chest.

But it was the fact that she hadn't tried to escape all morning that confused Lapis greatly. In fact, Jasper hadn't moved much from where she sat since the night before. At the most she would turn her head to follow a school of fish or to observe and scare away a passing shark, but other than that she had barely moved a muscle.

Unknowingly to her, Lapis had been staring at her the whole time, wondering what had gotten into the bigger Gem to make her so...calm. Ever since being dragged underwater, Jasper had done nothing but try to escape. Then all of a sudden it was like she could care less, odd.

Feeling Lapis' gaze on her, Jasper finally turned her head with and met the smaller Gem's puzzled look. Shocked at her sudden movement, Lapis quickly turned her head the other way, but Jasper already knew she had been staring.

"What are you staring at, runt?" the bigger Gem demanded, annoyed as ever.

Lapis turned back to her, her face neutral. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

Then something seemed to cross Jasper's face, a brief look Lapis couldn't identify and didn't have a chance to. It disappeared as fast as it appeared as the red Gem merely frowned and turned away again before replying, "Nothing."

"No one stares at nothing." Lapis pointed out plainly.

Jasper growled and turned back to her. "You want to know what I'm staring at?" she said then gestured to the water around them. "Water! Water, water, _everywhere!_ How much water does one pathetic planet need!?"

Lapis frowned. "It's not pathetic." she said suddenly defensive.

Jasper scoffed, but didn't turn around again. "Oh really? Don't tell me you're starting to like it here."

Lapis paused for a moment before replying. "No, of course not." And she wasn't completely lying, she still didn't like Earth. It wasn't home, and it brought back memories of her imprisonment in the mirror with the Crystal Gems, something she would much rather forget. But something about being underwater made everything little more bearable. The land above wasn't nearly as interesting as it was beneath the waves, there were so many different things to see and nothing was there to tell her how to live or what to do. Nothing but Jasper, though she no longer listened. And it's not like Jasper could much anyways, water was Lapis' element, something that the bigger Gem hadn't taken into consideration when asking to fuse with her. "But..."

"But, what?" demanded Jasper.

The smaller Gem shrugged. "I don't know. I just think that, at least down here, it's not so bad."

"It's the same down here as it is up on the surface; miserable." the other Gem retorted.

At this point, Lapis was beginning to get annoyed. "What is it about this planet that you hate so much?" she demanded. "You barely know anything about it!"

Jasper rolled her eyes, still not turning to face Lapis. "You're one to talk, how long has it been since you left Homeworld?"

Lapis then suddenly spranged to her feet in anger. "You know very well that I didn't leave!" she yelled, her hands clenched into tight fists. "They took me from Homeworld and-!"

"Used you to show them crap about the past." Jasper interrupted, unaffected by the blue Gem's sudden outburst. "Why'd they stick you in that piece of junk anyway?"

Lapis' anger died down a bit at the question. She didn't know the answer herself, as far as she knew she had done nothing wrong. Her fists slowly unclenched as she let out a sigh. "I don't know." she admitted.

"You don't know." Jasper echoed before finally turning to face Lapis with a slightly shocked expression. "Wow, and I thought Peridot had it bad, not knowing what was breaking her stuff and then crying to me about it."

Lapis cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Jasper frowned again before letting out an irritated sigh and propping one hand under her chin and on her knee. "I mean that those stinking Crystal Gems kept breaking every stupid Robinoid Peridot sent down here when she tried to reactivate the Kindergarten. And it's not like I knew or cared about who was doing it, but she just kept on complaining to me about it. Then she made Yellow Diamond send me to check anyways and here I am!" She threw both arms into the water, sending air bubbles to the surface. "Stuck here on this pathetic hunk of rock because of her, and you, and Rose Quarts! I swear when I get out of here I'm gonna-!"

"Who said you're ever _getting_ out of here, Jasper?" Lapis asked and yanked on one of the chains.

Jasper finally stood up and glared hard. "What are you going to do about it, brat?" she asked.

But the blue gem wasn't threatened, Jasper could do nothing here. "I don't have to do anything. All I do is watch you yank on these chains and hope that sooner or later you'll get it through your head that you're _never_ leaving this planet!"

All of a sudden, Jasper let out a loud growl and clenched her fists before screaming, "That _tears_ it!" and charging at Lapis.

But Lapis was ready for it and quickly dodged the bigger gem. Jasper glared daggers at her before throwing a punch in her direction, only for Lapis to duck and move away.

Then raising her hand in a swift motion, Lapis summoned a swirl of water to wrap itself around Jasper's neck before fastening into a short chain that stuck to the sand floor. Jasper cried out in surprise as the chain yanked her to her knees, both hands going to her neck as she tried to rip the chain apart. In response, Lapis willed the chains on Jasper's wrists to shorten so she couldn't pull the one at her neck. Jasper grunted and screamed like a wild animal as she attempted to stand and pull the chains off her wrists, but like many times before it was all in vain.

"What part of 'You're never leaving' don't you understand?!'" Lapis yelled. "You think you're so strong because you can push people around, because you can push me around, but not anymore! Don't you get it? You're _my_ prisoner now, you're stranded here just like I am, and whether you like it or not, I'm _never_ letting you go, and no scream or threat or abuse from you is _ever_ going to change that!"

" _SHUT UP!_ " Jasper finally yelled, her eyes slammed shut as she bared her teeth. But not in anger, in pain. Pain that Lapis was both glad and shocked to see. She threw herself forward, only for the chains to yank her back. "Let me go!"

"No!"

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"Let me _**go!**_ " the red Gem wailed almost tearfully as her whole body suddenly went slack and her fists unclenched. She let out a whimper so quiet that Lapis almost didn't hear it as she began to shudder almost violently. " _Please_...let me go."

All the anger Lapis had burning within her suddenly died as she heard Jasper, for lack of a better word, beg. It was then that Lapis actually felt... sorry, for the warrior Gem. Without a word, Lapis raised her right hand and lowered it slowly, causing the chain at Jasper's neck to disappear and the ones at her wrists to return to full length. The warrior Gem leaned forward slightly, a few strands of her hair falling in front of her eyes as her hands slowly went to her face.

Lapis stayed in place, ready for Jasper to lash out again. But when she didn't get up, she raised an eyebrow in confusion. She continued to stare at her until she heard Jasper's sharp intakes of breath again along with her shoulders shuddering. It didn't take long for the blue Gem to realize that the other Gem was crying. Her eyes widened as a small gasp escaped her, followed by a small twinge of guilt. But why was she guilty, isn't this what she wanted? She dragged Jasper underwater to make her suffer and to protect Steven, but it seemed that being down here, away from Homeworld was suffering enough. Lapis hadn't realized how much Jasper missed Homeworld, just like she did.

After debating it in her mind for about a minute, Lapis slowly lowered herself to her knees and gently tugged at Jasper's left chain. The red Gem jumped slightly before hesitantly looking through her fingers, her eyes widening at what she saw.

Lapis had both arms outstretched awkwardly towards Jasper with a gentle smile on her face. Jasper didn't know how to react at first, until she let out a loud sob and slowly crawled towards Lapis. She stopped in front of her, uncertain about it, until Lapis flashed her another small smile. At this, Jasper teared up all over again before sobbing and falling into Lapis' chest. Lapis let out another shocked gasp, before slowly wrapping her arms around Jasper as far as she could reach. Jasper began to sob audibly through her hands as Lapis gently stroked a few strands of her hair.

Both Gems stayed in that position for a long time in silence, Jasper's sobbing being the only noise heard until the red Gem finally spoke.

"I just," she whispered and sniffed. "Wanna go _home_."

 _I just, wanna go_ home. Lapis' eyes went wide at the familiar words, making her hug Jasper tighter. "Well, now you know how I feel." she said plainly. "Maybe someday, we'll get back."

Suddenly, Jasper seemed to realize how weak she must've looked because she tensed up in Lapis' arms. "No." she said slightly muffled before gently squirming out of Lapis' embrace. She scooted a few feet away as Lapis stared at her in confusion once again. "I don't want your help, I don't _need_ it!" She turned away from the blue Gem before wrapping her arms around herself and lowering her head in her arms, but not before Lapis could get a good glimpse at the tears streaking her face.

A wave of empathy surged through Lapis before she responded, "I'm not offering you help." At this, Jasper looked up in surprise but didn't turn around. Lapis gave her a gentle look. "I'm offering you a chance to start over." Then to her own surprise, Lapis extended her right hand towards the other Gem. Jasper finally turned around and, as if in fear, cringed away and pulled her knees closer towards herself.

"You don't have to be like this, you know. You can start over." Lapis smiled at her, an actual smile, the first positive action towards the other Gem that she didn't have to fake. Maybe Jasper wasn't as bad of a gem as she portrayed herself to be, maybe she was just like Lapis, homesick and alone.

Jasper continued to stare at Lapis before sniffing and wiping her face of any remaining tears. "Okay, fine." she said. "Let's pretend for a minute that I were to wanna, you know, 'start over?' H-How would I start?"

Lapis thought about it for a minute before looking back at Jasper. "An introduction wouldn't hurt." She then motioned to her still outstretched hand. "Hi, I'm Lapis. Lapis Lazuli."

Jasper looked down at her own hand, then back at Lapis who gave her a small half smile. Then she outstretched her own hand to take Lapis' and shook it slowly. "Name's Jasper." she replied.

Lapis gave her a reassuring smile, to which Jasper responded with a hesitant but truthful smile of her own. _I guess it really wouldn't hurt, starting over..._ she thought.


End file.
